JULY-SETEMBER 2014Q3 its kind. Over 100 brands have seized this opportunity to dispose of surplus stock without damaging brand image. • American luxury leather goods company Coach, has seen a continued decline in sales as it is facing increased competition from Michael Kors & Kate Spade. • Geopolitical tension regarding Ukraine is affecting business especially in Russia & Eastern Europe. ! Read the entire BOF article here . ! Market Pulse: Summer slowdown (August 2014) The strong Euro and a slump in both China and Japan have negatively impacted LVMH in quarter 2. These are disappointing results from the industry leader, however, some brands have seen promising growth recently. These include Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel. Hermès has seen a decline in second quarter sales in Japan due to a 2% sales tax increase. Michael Kors' share price has surprisingly decreased as investors question the sustainability of the company's recent growth. Read the entire BOF article here . Market Pulse: All eyes on America (September 2014) American brands have announced very promising results. Ralph Lauren exceeded expectations due to growth in e-commerce along with international expansion. Estée Lauder quarterly profit doubled due to an increasing demand for makeup and skincare products. Moving forward, US policymakers are currently debating a potential rise in interest rates, which will increase the power of the US dollar and therefore help out European luxury brands. Read the entire BOF article here . ! Tech in Fashion: Urban Research Experiments with Virtual Changing Booths For the past few years people have discussed virtual changing technology and it has been, for the most part unsuccessful till now. Recently, this new technology uses a virtual changing room in order to create a micro pop-up store. “Wearable Clothing by Urban Research” is an example of a store that carries no stock and is only seven square meters. ! Customers must only stand in front of two 60-inch screens, simply choose items that they would like to try on and then they will see themselves dressed in seconds. In order to purchase an item, customers only need to scan the QR code and click buy. If this catches on it can be placed in high traffic areas like train stations and even airports. Read the entire BOF article here. ! 2